This is The Takeaway from today’s Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with:
The Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology conference in San Francisco this week officially kicked off the fall schedule for investors.
The reason these events matter is simple: It’s where public companies rehearse the pitch they’ll give to Wall Street through the crucial months that span the end of one year and the beginning of another.
Sure, you will get a few execs who provide a third quarter guidance update after a follow-up question from an analyst. But by and large, fall conference season is a great way for management teams to fine-tune their current and future messaging while they get real-time feedback from investors.
At this year’s Communacopia, we’ve seen many of the biggest themes for investors emerge — AI, the consumer, regulatory risks, and tension in the media business.
But away from these anticipated headlines, here are the seven things yours truly and my colleague Allie Garfinkle have learned from being on the ground and chatting up some of the names running America’s biggest public companies.
Palpable fear is in the air about Microsoft (MSFT) strengthening its tentacles within the tech industry, specifically around its investment in OpenAI, which gives the tech giant a strong advantage in the AI race.
Growth stories trading on a decent valuation in tech are being drowned out by the investor love affair with Nvidia (NVDA). Example: Nvidia rival AMD (AMD). One contact who attended Lisa Su’s presentation at Goldman came away impressed with their positioning in AI. Nvidia stock is up over 200% this year; AMD has gained just under 70%.
If a company you’re invested in isn’t discussing what they are doing in automation over the next two years, it’s a red flag. Giant companies are trying to bring as much automation as possible to their businesses to counter pandemic-era rises in worker wages and also ride the AI wave.
Not many in tech believe we are headed for disinflation in 2024, counter to the present market narrative.
Mass tech layoffs are likely over, for now.
The appetite to own legacy media companies such as Disney (DIS) and Paramount (PARA) — which are trading near multi-year lows — isn’t, well, high. The ongoing Charter (CHTR) and Disney fight isn’t helping.
Nvidia’s stock may have gotten a poor earnings reception a few weeks ago, but the vibe here is you risk underperforming for clients if you aren’t long NVDA in 2024.
Fall conference season started with Communacopia and you can find our full coverage here.
I often leave here bursting with new ideas.
And this year is no different.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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